This application is a continuation of international application PCT/FR97/01468 filed on Aug. 7, 1997, which designates the United States of America, and corresponds to French application 96.11403 of Sep. 16, 1996, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to the fields of cosmetology and dermatology and has for its object the use for cosmetic, dermatological or pharmaceutical uses, of an extract of the plant Terminalia catappa, as well as a corresponding cosmetic, dermatological or pharmaceutical composition.
The plant Terminalia catappa or xe2x80x9cIndian terminaliaxe2x80x9d is a very common species, of Indian origin and of the family Combretun.
It is a tree 5 to 25 meters high, whose branches are horizontal and sub-verticulated, particularly at the top of the young plants.
The leaves are alternate, whole, membranous and distinct as a function of age.
Defoliation takes place at the end of the dry season, the leaves turning red before falling.
The wide geographic distribution, tropical and subtropical, of the Terminalia catappa plant partially explains its widespread use in popular African, Asiatic and American medicines, for many years.
Externally used, the Terminalia catappa plant is above all used for the care of dermatological and rheumatoid afflictions.
Internally, this plant is used for the treatment of gastrointestinal, respiratory and cardiovascular afflictions.
All portions of the plant (leaves, bark, roots, fruit, wood) are used in traditional medicine.
The extract of the bark of the stems is used externally for its astringent action (tannins) in the case of wounds and ulcerations.
Nevertheless, it is above all the leaves, alone or in association with other plants, which are used for the treatment of dermatological and rheumatoid afflictions.
The juice obtained after pressing the leaves is used in the treatment of scabies, leprosy, prurigo and scabbing (Senegal) and in the treatment of wounds (Madagascar, New Guinea).
In India, the plant has been used in the Ayurvedic and Unani medical systems: the juice of the young leaves is used in the treatment of scabies and other cutaneous disorders. A hemostatic effect is sometimes mentioned.
The leaves can be applied to aching joints giving rise to an analgesic effect (Caribbean, Senegal, Indochina, Malaysia).
In the form of local compresses, the crushed green leaves coated with castor oil are used to relieve lumbago.
Associated with other plants, and in an oily vehicle, it is used for the care of sprains and/or muscular pain (Cook Islands).
Internally, the leaves of Terminalia catappa are used for the treatment of gastric disorders (Senegal), respiratory afflictions (Caribbean, Haiti, Mexico, Cuba, New Guinea) , cardiovascular afflictions (anti-hypertensive action) and hypatic afflictions (Creole medicine), insomnia (Creole medicine) and gonorrhoea (Madagascar), or as an anti-diarrhetic (Indochina, India).
It has on the other hand been shown, on isolated hypatic cells, that the extracts of the leaves, in vitro, have anti-lipidoperoxidant and anti-hypatotoxic properties.
The anti-radical activity of extracts has also been demonstrated in vitro by the test for the decoloration of diphenyl-picryl-hydrazyl radical (DPPH) (Joyeux M. et al. PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH, 1995, 9.228-230).
Moreover, there is also known from various texts the use in cosmetic extracts of species of Terminalia chebula and Terminalia bellerica for the treatment of cutaneous disorders, as anti-hyaluronidase active ingredients or active ingredients inhibiting 5xcex1-reductase or as having anti-oxidant activity (see particularly GB-2 274 058, JP-0 6009371, JP-0 5255102 and JP-0 4069343).
Finally, it is also known to use as anti-inflammatories, the complexes formed by vegetable saponines extracted from Terminalia sericea combined with phospholipids (see particularly U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,139).
However, the use of extracts of Terminalia catappa, for external topical application, in the field of cosmetology and/or pharmacy has not been known.
Accordingly, the inventor of the present invention has determined, in an unexpected and surprising manner, that the extracts of Terminalia catappa have specific biological activities, which render them directly usable in cosmetic, dermatological and pharmaceutical preparations or compositions for external topical use.
Thus, the principal object of the present invention consists in the use of an extract of the plant Terminalia catappa, alone or in association with other active compounds, in a cosmetological, dermatological and/or pharmaceutical composition for external topical use for the skin and the nails.
The inventor has particularly noted that the extract of the plant Terminalia catappa has pronounced anti-inflammatory, soothing, astringent, firming, protective and anti-stress repairing properties (UV-R, pollution, various mechanical, physical and chemical damage) in the scope of the mentioned use.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the extract of the plant Terminalia catappa is obtained from the leaves of this plant.
According to a particularly preferred characteristic, the solvent used for the preparation of the extract of the plant Terminalia catappa is selected from the group consisting of water, aqueous solutions (of different pH), alcohols (methanol, ethynol, propynol, isopropynol . . . ) ketones (acetone, methylketone, diethylketone . . . ), halogenated hydrocarbons, esters (ethyl, propyl or butyl acetate), polyols (glycols, diethylene-glycol, propanediol, dipropylene glycol, butylene glycol . . . ) and mixtures of two or more of the mentioned solvents.
Obtaining the preparation of the mentioned extract can be carried out by different known methods at least in part by of one skilled in the art.
By way of non-limiting example, there will be described hereafter different processes for possible obtention of an extract of Terminalia catappa used in the field of the present invention.